Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 26 - From Marx to Mao

204V. I. LENINlate” more cleverly the workers’ sympathies for the internationalsocialist revolution!Just think of it: under devilishly difficult conditions,having but one Liebknecht (and he in prison) with no newspapers,with no freedom of assembly, with no Soviets, withall classes of the population, including every well-to-dopeasant, incredibly hostile to the idea of internationalism,with the imperialist big, middle, and petty bourgeoisiesplendidly organised—the Germans, i.e., the German revolutionaryinternationalists, the German workers dressed insailors’ jackets, started a mutiny in the navy with onechance in a hundred of winning.But we, with dozens of papers at our disposal, freedom ofassembly, a majority in the Soviets, we, the best situatedproletarian internationalists in the world, should refuse tosupport the German revolutionaries by our uprising. Weought to reason like the Scheidemanns and Renaudels, thatit is most prudent not to revolt, for if we are shot, then theworld will lose such excellent, reasonable, ideal internationalists!Let us prove how reasonable we are. Let us pass a resolutionof sympathy with the German insurrectionists, andlet us renounce the insurrection in Russia. This would begenuine, reasonable internationalism. Imagine how fastworld internationalism would blossom forth, if the samewise policy were to triumph everywhere!The war has fatigued and tormented the workers of allcountries to the utmost. Outbursts are becoming frequentin Italy, Germany and Austria. We alone have Soviets ofWorkers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. Let us then keep on waiting.Let us betray the German internationalists as we are betrayingthe Russian peasants, who, not by words but by deeds,by their uprising against the landowners, appeal to us torise against Kerensky’s government....Let the clouds of the imperialist conspiracy of thecapitalists of all countries who are ready to strangle theRussian revolution gather—we shall wait patiently untilwe are strangled by the ruble! Instead of attacking the conspiratorsand breaking their ranks by a victory of the Sovietsof Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, let us wait for the ConstituentAssembly, where all international plots will be